Food Plots Summer plot recipie

[megalomaniac]

I'm having Co op make me a blend for 15 acres of plots. Any suggestions, additions, or deletions? My recipie is per acre.

Buckwheat 5lbs
Cowpeas 7lbs
Soybeans 7lbs
Laredo Beans 7lbs
Dwarf sorgham 5lbs
Millet 5lbs
Sunflowers 3lbs
Okra 1lbs

The purpose of this blend is to build soil on the marginal ground, and to produce a crop of haylige for cattle on the good ground. Will be drilled in 14 acres, and a 1 ac plot will be broadcast.

Any strong recommendations against any of these or any additions easily obtainable in middle TN?

 

[megalomaniac]

Oh, having to come up with an alternative since Quail Forever is probably not going to be able to get me the 500lbs of RR soybeans I ordered

 

[BSK]

Did your Co-op carry Lerado soybeans? I'm having trouble finding them.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I think the mix is good. How much have you calculated that out per acre in cost? Also, very curious about the okra?

I am in the same boat for when/if the soybeans don't come in from QF . The sunflowers I ordered from them are coming in I know. So, our plans are to spray down everything tomorrow once everything dries out, and hopefully planting in two weeks. Our blend will be a mixture of leftover seed from when I ordered last year (soybeans and sorghum) and the new sunflowers.

The mix that will be drilled in will be:
19 lbs of soybeans / acre
5.5 lbs sorghum / acre
3 lbs sunflowers / acre

After looking at your blend mega, does our blend seem light? We do use a drill. Other than some sunflowers and soybeans for deer/turkey/dove forage, we are mainly planting this just to add back to the soil.

Hopefully the majority of our new plots will be completed by the start of July. If they are done in time, we will then plant buckwheat on those new plots for erosion control and to get some green manure on the ground/start building the soil in them - will then drill straight through that this fall with a blend

 

[megalomaniac]

Did your Co-op carry Lerado soybeans? I'm having trouble finding them.

Sometimes... if not, I'll just substitute another forage bean

 

[megalomaniac]

I think the mix is good. How much have you calculated that out per acre in cost? Also, very curious about the okra?

I am in the same boat for when/if the soybeans don't come in from QF . The sunflowers I ordered from them are coming in I know. So, our plans are to spray down everything tomorrow once everything dries out, and hopefully planting in two weeks. Our blend will be a mixture of leftover seed from when I ordered last year (soybeans and sorghum) and the new sunflowers.

The mix that will be drilled in will be:
19 lbs of soybeans / acre
5.5 lbs sorghum / acre
3 lbs sunflowers / acre

After looking at your blend mega, does our blend seem light? We do use a drill. Other than some sunflowers and soybeans for deer/turkey/dove forage, we are mainly planting this just to add back to the soil.

Hopefully the majority of our new plots will be completed by the start of July. If they are done in time, we will then plant buckwheat on those new plots for erosion control and to get some green manure on the ground/start building the soil in them - will then drill straight through that this fall with a blend

Assuming normal seed prices (and that's a BIG assumption this year), I'm looking at around $38 per acre or so for the seed.

I'm thinking around 40 to 45lbs seed per acre, but this is just flying by the seat of my pants. I'll learn by doing it for the future. I just want a blend where if 1 or 2 things fail, I've got the fields chocked full of other stuff to suppress weeds and build a lot of organic matter.

I'm expecting some early reseeding of my balansa clover like happened last year.

 

[Monk74]

Past few years I've found that different co-op's inventory and order abilities vary greatly. Some have went to catering to the "subdivision" farmers. More like TSC. It's a matter of how far a guy wants to drive. Some have RR beans in stock in the mid state as of this past week.

 

[BSK]

I'm going to call the Fairview, Dickson and Centerville Co-ops to see if I can find Lerado soybeans. I really like that variety.